Godspeed Spirit

[lostplanetairman]

I always called my airline “cockroach” airline figuring that nothing could kill it. We went through so many hard times and survived. But this was too much. I am really really sorry for the fantastic people who worked there. My 16 years there were very special because of the family.

Right now I am working to get a few of the older guys on at FSI.

 

[MikeD]

Go around may have been just an excuse to get a few extra minutes of stick time. I wouldn’t blame them for not being excited to land. Parking at DFW, MCO, LAS, etc for the last time is one thing, but ferrying a yellow airbus to a boneyard has to be a tough pill to swallow.

Probably so. Didn’t seem to be for anything else, approach looked fine and uneventful.

 

[MikeD]

Spirit still has the best livery I think, the old shades of grey/black that their planes used to be painted in.

 

[arkavgal]

It ebbs and flows. We have seen the battle of premium domestic change to LCC and ULCC, and back again. Ventures like TED, airlines like Spirit, SWA etc. SWA pivoted almost too late. Alaska was going the LCC route and quickly changed to premium domestic, and their timing couldn't have been better.

There might be a time and place for it again, but Spirit ignored the warning signs for years and years. It is almost business 101 that the hallmark of successful companies is their ability to adapt. Spirit refused. When the market demands change, we will see who adapts and who fails in the next round.

I wonder how Ryan Air, easyjet, Wizz Air etc in Europe are doing given the fuel prices. ULCC seens to work well in Europe.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

I wonder how Ryan Air, easyjet, Wizz Air etc in Europe are doing given the fuel prices. ULCC seens to work well in Europe.

Wizz Air CEO was on NPR this morning. He described that they had secured six months of fuel at pre-war rates.

 

[JordanD]

Spirit still has the best livery I think, the old shades of grey/black that their planes used to be painted in.

“50 shades of grey” is what everyone called that livery

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

I read somewhere that Nomadic Aviation brought a bunch of former Spirit pilots onboard to handle the ferry flights.

I hope Nomad got cash up front

 

[arkavgal]

Wizz Air CEO was on NPR this morning. He described that they had secured six months of fuel at pre-war rates.

That's good to know.

I'm planning a trip with my kid from US to Scotland (my clan has its own castle I can stay in!) for a week then to Japan for a week then back home. I was going to fly Emirates GLA-DXB-KIX but the Iran war just had to happen and make travel in that region volatile, extremely limiting my travel options. China Eastern has the best price that avoids the middle east but that also entails flying over Russia which is giving me pause.

In addition to the instability from the war itself, I have to worry about how the instability of the fuel supply and rising prices will affect both European and Asian LLCs/ULCCs, making me think I should stick with larger legacy carriers given some airline are already curtailing flights in Europe. One attractive flight option was GLA to Milan on Wizz Air then Milan to KIX via ICN on Asiana.

 

[lostplanetairman]

Spirit still has the best livery I think, the old shades of grey/black that their planes used to be painted in.

You mean this one? Ben Baldanza sent it to us when he became president. He’s probably rolling him his grave now.

 

[MikeD]

You mean this one? Ben Baldanza sent it to us when he became president. He’s probably rolling him his grave now.

That one. The silver to grey to black shades. A very sharp paintjob. Kind of like the “Coors light can” Northwest/NWA planes were in their final years.